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iamthedudeman

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jul 7, 2007
1,457
325
I need help!

Can't decide on which one.

I own both machines. I just need to move one into my house for work use. Both have same specs save for the processors.

I own and operate a marketing business. I currently use a 2008 8 core at home for work. Just want to upgrade it. Giving old one to my brother. Still works good.

I have looked at the benchmarks. Both are still faster than any imac currently avail in raw power.

Single core power is a advantage on the 3.33 6 core while the slight advantage goes to the 2.4 8 core for raw power.

I will be using one of these to go over my engineers work and projects. So I need the some good power.
 
I'd go with the Dual Processor machine. It has two advantages:

1. Eight RAM slots vs four, so more expandability there.

2. Your applications probably don't require it, but you can replace the CPUs for more cores and higher speed.

Lou
 
If you're going to keep both machines (you're just giving away the 2008?) I'd use the hex core single socket. It'll have better low-thread performance, and at 6 cores probably is just as fast as the dual-socket machine for many-thread apps.

To flowrider's point, the 8-core machine has more long term headroom, so if/when you upgrade it that machine would be better. But until then (or if you need the extra ram) I'd stick with the single-hex for speed.

I ended up with a dual-socket board, but in hindsight a single-socket hex would have been a more cost effective route :)
 
We have both the 8 core 2.4 2010 and 6 core 3.33 2012 Pros at work. We often use them all for distributed rendering of Maya files, and this is a fully multithreaded use. The 6 core machines leave the 8 cores in the dust on renders.
 
If you're going to keep both machines (you're just giving away the 2008?) I'd use the hex core single socket. It'll have better low-thread performance, and at 6 cores probably is just as fast as the dual-socket machine for many-thread apps.

To flowrider's point, the 8-core machine has more long term headroom, so if/when you upgrade it that machine would be better. But until then (or if you need the extra ram) I'd stick with the single-hex for speed.

I ended up with a dual-socket board, but in hindsight a single-socket hex would have been a more cost effective route :)

Yes I am giving away the 2008 8 core. I own my own business and my brother does not. I help out when I can. Technically I own all the machines in my business since I bought them. But cannot use what I want since my engineers and marketing team use them. They were bought for them specifically to their specifications to get the most out of their job. I just bought two maxed out Mac Pro's 2014 models 12 core. That cost me a lot. :(

So that opened up two older machines to move into my office. The other will be at the extra desk we have when someone needs a extra work station.

I thought about flowriders suggestion. And it does make sense. But since I have both I can use the Hex for now and later down the road upgrade the 8-core machine.

It's a win, win. Can't go wrong with either. Thanks for the reply's guys. Much appreciated. :)

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We have both the 8 core 2.4 2010 and 6 core 3.33 2012 Pros at work. We often use them all for distributed rendering of Maya files, and this is a fully multithreaded use. The 6 core machines leave the 8 cores in the dust on renders.

Exactly what I suspected also. I don't use them for that but this is what my engineers were telling me. They also thought the 3.3 was slightly faster. But less upgradeable.

What you just said confirms it for me. Thanks. :)
 
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